Residential Driveway & Road Access on Side Roads Outside Municipalities

Use these guidelines to design and construct a residential driveway and/or road access from a single family zoned dwelling. These guidelines apply to properties located off of side roads maintained by the B.C. government, outside municipal boundaries, and not on a major highway or numbered route.

Different guidelines apply to commercial, industrial or multi-family development driveways.

• Highway Use Permits - Access

Design

Location

A single-family dwelling may have only one access from a provincially maintained road. This driveway must be located in front of the property. You must provide parking for two vehicles on your property.

Consider the following when planning for a driveway:

• Where will you position your home, if it's a new building, and how will your driveway fit into the overall layout?
• What will your driveway be like in the winter months?
• Will the location serve as an efficient access to your home?

Grade

Grade is the change in elevation of land. When designing a driveway, consider different weather conditions. A driveway that is generally level for at least the length of your car, with extra space for larger vehicles, will give you enough distance to stop and prevent you from sliding onto the road in icy conditions.

If your property is higher than the road, you must create a small swale or depression to direct surface water from your driveway to the ditch. This will help prevent water from running onto the road and creating black ice when temperatures drop. A combination of a slight grade and the swale or depression will also help keep debris off the road as a result of heavy rains.

Sight Distance

The sight distance requirements will help you to see approaching traffic and will allow approaching traffic to see you. Required sight distances are dependent upon posted speed limits—the white regulatory signs, not yellow curve advisory signs.

To find the sight distance, observe the road from your proposed driveway. Look up and down the road as though you are about to proceed. The point where you observe the road is the sight distance.

At locations where sight distance is poor, you may need to clear some of the vegetation to help improve sight lines. If you need to clear vegetation in front of your neighbour’s property within the right-of-way, let them know, as a courtesy, that you are working to improve the sight lines so that you may safely enter and exit your property.

Required Sight Distances

Posted speed limit of road – km/h	Required sight distance – meters	Required sight distance – feet
40	85	280
50	105	345
60	130	430
70	150	495
80	170	560

Drainage

Surface water runs from properties, driveways and the road. Ditch systems at the side of the road remove this water and provide drainage.

Before you construct your driveway, determine if there is a defined ditch line along your property. If there is an existing ditch, you will need to install a culvert.

Construction

Once you have decided where to locate your driveway and road access by addressing sight distance, grade and drainage, use these standards to construct your driveway and road access:

• Standard residential driveways are 6 m (20') wide at the junction with the road
• Where the property is higher than the road, the grade should not be greater than 2 percent (0.2 m) for the first 10 m (30'). There should be a slight swale at the ditch line.
• Refer to the required sight distances for the posted speed limit of the road you are accessing
• Use appropriate gravels and materials when constructing a driveway

Use these detailed diagrams for more information about driveway / road access location, design and construction guidelines:

• Driveway Plan Diagram (PDF)
• Driveway Plan Diagram Profile (PDF)
• Required Sight Distances (Table 3.1) (PDF)

Culverts

Culverts must be corrugated steel pipes with a minimum size of 400 mm (16") by 9 m (30') in length to allow for the driveway fill on either side of the driveway. In coastal areas or areas of high rain runoff, a larger diameter pipe is required. If a 400 mm pipe and the cover is not going to fit in the ditch, contact your local district office.

Culverts should be:

• Longer than the width of your driveway to provide better drainage
• Be placed slightly below the invert or lowest point in the ditch
• Be covered with granular material to a depth equal to half the diameter of the culvert to protect the culvert from collapse. For example, if the culvert is 400 mm (16") in diameter, the depth of the cover must be a minimum of 200 mm (8") in depth

Use the Culvert Specifications / Driveway Cross-Section (PDF) for more information about culvert location, design and construction.

Excavating

Use caution when digging into steep slopes. Digging may cause the slope to fail and fall onto the road or undermine your building area.

If the slope fails or the road is undermined, you will be required to relocate and/or fix your access, or the ministry responsible for transportation and infrastructure will relocate and/or fix your access and charge you for the costs.

Call Before You Dig to get information on a buried utility.

Maintenance

Property owners are responsible for driveway maintenance including: 

• Maintaining culverts by keeping them clear of debris and ice
• Replacing undersized, collapsed or rusted out culverts under the driveway adjacent to the highway
• Clearing snow from highway plowing operations at the driveway entrance
• Maintaining the driveway to ensure drainage, gravels or other materials do not spill onto the highway and cleaning debris from the driveway off of the side road
• Clearing vegetation that has regrown to maintain safe sight distances